Ralph Fletcher
Ralph J. Fletcher (born March 17, 1953) is an American poet, writer of children's picture books and young-adult fiction, and educational consultant, who has also written books for both children and educators on the craft of writing. Life Ralph Fletcher grew up in Marshfield, Massachusetts, the oldest of 9 children. Each of his parents was one of 8 children. He earned a B.A. degree from Dartmouth College in 1975 and an M.F.A degree in writing from Columbia University in 1983. In college he participated in foreign study programs in Tonga in the South Pacific and Sierra Leone, Africa. Career After receiving his masters degree, Fletcher worked in New York City classrooms as part of the Teacher College writing project. Fletcher lives in Lee, New Hampshire. He is married to JoAnn Portalupi, with whom he has collaborated on several professional educator books. Together they have 4 sons. Writing Writer’s Notebook In 1996, Ralph Fletcher wrote the book Breathing In, Breathing Out; Keeping A Writer's Notebook. Although this book is geared towards an adult audience, it contributes a better understanding for educators of how to keep a writer's notebook and instill the values within Writer's Workshop for children. Fletcher writes that "keeping a notebook may be the single best way to survive as a writer." This book provides examples of situations in which Fletcher personally used his writer’s notebook for himself to cope, jot down story starters, write poems, let out rage or frustrations, or simply a place to unleash all that was on his mind. The purpose of this book is to allow people to see the value of having a writer’s notebook and allowing it to be “a quiet place to catch your breath and begin writing.” Fletcher provides samples from his own writer's notebook throughout the book to provide a better example of what a writer's notebook truly is. Recognition His young adult novel Uncle Daddy won a Christopher Medal in the Books for Young People, ages 10–12 category in 2002. Fig Pudding, a young adult chapter book by Fletcher, was recommended as one of the ten best books of 1995 by the American Library Association. Fletcher's poetry book I Am Wings was chosen by School Library Journal as one of their best books of 1994. Publications Poetry *''The Magic Nest:Fertility poems''. Stafford, VA: Northwoods Press, 1980. *''Water Planet''. Paramus, NJ: Arrowhead Books, 1991. Non-fiction *''Marshfield Dreams: When I Was a Kid''. New York: Holt, 2005. *''The In-Betweener: More stories about growing up in Marshfield''. New York: Holt, 2018. Books for educators *''Walking Trees: Portraits of teachers and children in the culture of schools''. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1991. *''What a Writer Needs''. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1993, *''Breathing In, Breathing Out: Keeping a Writer's Notebook'' (1996) *''Craft Lessons: Teaching writing K-8'' (with JoAnn Portalupi). Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 1998. *''Nonfiction Craft Lessons: Teaching information writing K-8'' (with JoAnn Portalupi). Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 2001. *''Writing Workshop: The essential guide'' (with JoAnn Portalupi). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2001. *''When Students Write'' (with JoAnn Portalupi). Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 2002; New York: Kanopy, 2014. *''Teaching the Qualities of Writing: Ideas, design, language, presentation'' (with JoAnn Portalupi). Portsmouth, NH: Firsthand, 2004. *''Lessons for the Writer's Notebook'' (with JoAnn Portalupi). Portsmouth, NH: Firsthand / Heiemann, 2005. *''Boy Writers: Reclaiming their voices''. Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 2006. *''Pyrotechnics on the Page: Playful craft that sparks writing''. Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 2010. *''Joy Write: Cultivating high-impact, low-stakes writing''. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2017. Juvenile Poems *''I Am Wings: Poems about love''. New York: Bradbury Press / Toronto: Maxwell Macmillan / New York: Maxwell Macmillan, 1994. *''Ordinary Things: Poems from a walk in early spring'' (illuustrated by Walter Lyon Krudop). New York: Atheneum, 1997. *''Buried Alive: The elements of love''. New York: Atheneum, 1998. *''Room Enough for Love: The complete poems of 'I Am Wings' and Buried Alive'.'' New York: Aladdin, 1998. *''Relatively Speaking: Poems about Family''. New York: Orchard, 1999; New York: Scholastic, 2001. *''Have You Been to the Beach Lately? Poems'' (illustrated by Andrea Sperling). New York: Orchard, 2001. *''A Writing Kind of Day: Poems for young poets'' (illustrated by April Ward). Honesdale, PA: Wordsong / Boyds Mills Press, 2005 *''Moving Day (book). Honesdale, PA: Wordsong, 2006. Stories *''Twilight Comes Twice (illustrated by Kate Kiesler). New York: Clarion, 1997. *''Grandpa Never Lies'' (illustrated by Harvey Stevenson). New York: Clarion, 2000. *''The Circus Surprise'' (illustrated by Vladimir Vagin). New York: Clarion, 2001. *''Hello, Harvest Moon'' (illustrated by Kate Kiesler). New York: Clarion, 2003. *''The Sandman'' (illustrated by Richard Cowdrey). New York: Holt, 2008. Young Adult *''Flying Solo''. Boston, MA: Sandpiper, 1998; New York: Scholastic, 2018. *''Uncle Daddy''. New York: Holt, 2001. Books for children on writing *''A Writer's Notebook''. 1996; HarperCollins, 2003. *''Live Writing''. New York: Avon, 1999. *''How Writers Work: Finding a process that works for you''. HarperCollins, 2000. *''Poetry Matters: Writing a poem from the inside out''. New York: Harper, 2002. *''How to Write Your Life Story''. New York: Collins, 2007; New York: Scholastic, 2010. *''Reflections: Author at Work''. Katonah, NY: R.C. Owen, 2007. *''Guy-Write: What Every Guy Writer Needs to Know''. New York: Holt, 2012. *''Making Non-fiction from Scratch''. Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 2015. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat. Audio / video *''When Students Write'' (DVD). Portland, ME: Stenhouse, 2006. See also * List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems * Ralph Fletcher b. 1953 at the Poetry Foundation ;Audio / video *Ralph Fletcher at YouTube ;Books *Ralph Fletcher at Amazon.com ;About *Ralph Fletcher Official website. Category:1953 births Category:Writers of young adult literature Category:Dartmouth College alumni Category:Columbia University alumni Category:American poets Category:Living people Category:20th-century poets Category:Children's poets Category:English-language poets Category:Poets